Written by: Kathy Zelidon
Since the Winter 2022 semester, The Garden has been slowly opening its doors to Southern’s campus. The Garden started out inside the old student center and will be moving to the old location of KR’s Place on the fourth floor of Wright Hall this October.
According to the manager of The Garden, Maggie Pickens, the eatery is still waiting on some kitchen equipment and other details to decide on an opening date. When The Garden officially opens, its hours will be Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The eatery will be offering hot meals, sandwiches, wraps, salads and grab-and-go breakfast and dinner options. The menu will be based on a four-week rotational cycle, with each day showcasing a particular national dish.
Pickens said in an interview that it was important that the menu “reflects the diversity of Southern’s campus.”
To ensure that every student has a seat at the table, The Garden is not only taking national diversity into account but also different diets. Pickens told the Accent that the meals will cater to all students, including vegans and the gluten-intolerant.
“We are mostly vegan. Most of the ingredients we use are minimally processed…,” Pickens said. “We are also gluten-free … there’s always going to be a gluten-free option provided for those that need it. I definitely think there’s a larger niche, and it’s continuing to grow for people that are needing that type of food.”
Pickens said that while she is the chef, The Garden’s creation and maintenance have always been a team effort.
According to Pickens, the School of Nursing and Food Services were helpful in the realization of the eatery, while the culinary arts program provided students for the kitchen.
When the eatery officially opens, there will be two to three students working with Pickens from 7 a.m. until opening to create the meals for that day.
“It’s a dream to be able to incorporate the culinary arts into this process and allow students to showcase their creativity and their talents, eventually just another way of providing them hands-on experience and solid leadership skills for when they graduate and enter the workforce,” Pickens said.
When asked what she wanted customers to take away from their experience at The Garden, Pickens said, “When [the students] enter our doors, [I hope ]they just feel welcomed and appreciated as individuals. I want them to be amazed that healthful dining and healthful food can be an explosion in the mouth.”
In an interview, Grace Sikora, a sophomore computer science major, shared that she can taste the care and effort the staff at The Garden put into their food. She first tasted the food at the taste tests conducted during the winter semester of 2022.
“Vegan food is an incredibly hard cuisine to master,” Sikora said. “The fact that they can have a variety of dishes and have each of them taste good is a feat in itself and a credit to the talented staff there.”
